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Show HN: HN as TikTok, welcome to HN hell

hnhell.com

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Show HN: HN as TikTok, welcome to HN hell

#1
Inspired by WikiTok (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42936723)

After making HN paradise: https://meet.hn

I had to make https://hnhell.com

Fully created with v0.dev: wanted to make the joke but didn't have time for it. Thanks v0!

It's even better as you will probably enjoy some very cursed errors/problems, which is expected in hell.

Show HN: HN as TikTok, welcome to HN hell
hnhell.com

Re: Show HN: HN as TikTok, welcome to HN hell

#5
Oh, thanks! That was such a quick implementation—and a nice addition to the Show HN gallery, especially for HN-related projects.

When I came across WikiTok yesterday, the first thought that popped into my mind was how this format could work for HN. And here we are!

With the abundance of AI coding assistants available today, creating prototypes, demos, or MVPs can now be done in just a few hours instead of taking days or even weeks. As developers, we should absolutely take advantage of these tools to stay ahead and remain innovative—otherwise, we might risk being left behind!

Re: Show HN: HN as TikTok, welcome to HN hell

#6
I think both of these projects miss what makes TikTok (and reels in general) so effective.

A good TikTok video gets "injected into your brain". You have zero effort to provide and suddenly this stuff is in your mind. I'm not saying it's a good thing, I realize the danger, but that's the core mechanism.

A friend in marketing describes this in terms of "brain calories". Eg if people have to think in order to understand your landing page, you failed to communicate your ideas efficiently, as it "requires too many brain calories". TikTok content requires zero brain calories.

One could say that only very shallow information could be spread this way (eg people dancing, video game clips) but I'm not sure that's true. The real challenge would be to turn an arbitrary source of information (wikipedia, hn) and make it immediately graspable. I suspect modern AI models could already go quite far in this direction.

Veritasium is a good example of interesting yet very graspable content: https://www.tiktok.com/@veritasium/video/7329576935317622058

Re: Show HN: HN as TikTok, welcome to HN hell

#7
post #5

Oh, thanks! That was such a quick implementation—and a nice addition to the Show HN gallery, especially for HN-related projects. When I came across WikiTok yesterday, the first thought that popped into my mind was how this format could work for HN. And here we are! With the abundance of AI coding assistants available today, creating prototypes, demos, or MVPs can now be done in just a few hours instead of taking days…

To be fair it is really not great, but it works for the joke and I'm impressed by how good it works for how little time it took.

Re: Show HN: HN as TikTok, welcome to HN hell

#8

I think both of these projects miss what makes TikTok (and reels in general) so effective. A good TikTok video gets "injected into your brain". You have zero effort to provide and suddenly this stuff is in your mind. I'm not saying it's a good thing, I realize the danger, but that's the core mechanism. A friend in marketing describes this in terms of "brain calories". Eg if people have to think in order to understand…

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Re: Show HN: HN as TikTok, welcome to HN hell

#9

I think both of these projects miss what makes TikTok (and reels in general) so effective. A good TikTok video gets "injected into your brain". You have zero effort to provide and suddenly this stuff is in your mind. I'm not saying it's a good thing, I realize the danger, but that's the core mechanism. A friend in marketing describes this in terms of "brain calories". Eg if people have to think in order to understand…

> "A good TikTok video gets "injected into your brain""

I worked in marketing, so I'm generally immune to outrageous metaphor, such as "injected" into your brain.

That said, I just want to point out the irony we're still using phrases like this after 20+ years of research on networked media and user interaction, and soft science research into cognitive psychology and behavioral psychology, as well as research into human biology and the brain.

So when I hear brain injection as the secret to successful technologies like TikTok's algorithm (plus music licensing), I see a vast gap.

I'm reminded about the general distain for new disciplines such as memetics and problematic disciplines such as semiotics, which nevertheless offer more precise language and less hyperbole. Established disciplines such as behavioral science, for example, say we don't need these disciplines, because they're problematic and add nothing.

So I ask, Why haven't the sciences I speak of contributed more to the general discourse?

Re: Show HN: HN as TikTok, welcome to HN hell

#10
post #5

Oh, thanks! That was such a quick implementation—and a nice addition to the Show HN gallery, especially for HN-related projects. When I came across WikiTok yesterday, the first thought that popped into my mind was how this format could work for HN. And here we are! With the abundance of AI coding assistants available today, creating prototypes, demos, or MVPs can now be done in just a few hours instead of taking days…

I made a prototype template for a site and had it exactly how I wanted in about an hour. I mocked it up in Photopea, gave Claude an image, and told it to generate HTML that would make a page with those qualities.

A few tweaks and a couple more prompts later and I had all the main elements I wanted in place, and just need to fill content which I won't use AI for.

Probably saved me several hours because I suck at frontend.

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